For the second consecutive weekend, Shane van Gisbergen has pulled off an impressive feat.
The driver of the No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing put down a dominant lap in qualifying (74.594s/96.040mph) to collect the pole position for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway — his second pole position of the weekend at the 1.99-mile road course in Sonoma, California.
During last weekend’s annual trip to the Chicago Street Course, the Auckland, New Zealand-native made himself a piece of history, becoming the second driver to win from the pole in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series on the same weekend. Having racked up the pole for both events this weekend, it’s a mark he’ll look to duplicate at Sonoma.
The mind-blowing lap time, which had van Gisbergen sitting a quarter-second faster than any other driver, went straight to the top of the speed charts at the start of the second 20-minute group. However, with only a slim margin, the New Zealander went back on the racetrack hoping to retain the pole.
STARTING LINEUP: 2025 NCS Toyota / Save Mart 350
“I’m shaking. That was pretty full-on. I’m stoked to have RedBull on the car. Thank you to Trackhouse and Chevy, amazing car,” said van Gisbergen. “We weren’t very good in practice, but new tires fixed it. Hopefully, we can be good for the race. But what a cool day.”
There wasn’t a single driver who returned to the racetrack that even came close to the lap of the Trackhouse Racing driver, but that didn’t stop him from schooling the remainder of the field.
Chase Briscoe, who challenged Shane van Gisbergen for the pole last weekend at the Chicago Street Course, was the second-fastest driver in qualifying on Saturday. Briscoe and van Gisbergen have combined to win the pole position in six of the last eight NASCAR Cup Series events.
William Byron was the quickest of those in the first group of qualifying, but had to settle for a third-place starting spot. Ross Chastain posted the fourth-fastest lap, and AJ Allmendinger (the fastest car in practice) rounded out the top five.
Ty Gibbs was sixth fastest in qualifying, with Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, and Christopher Bell rounding out the top-10.
In 12th-place, Zane Smith put together a strong qualifying result for his Front Row Motorsports team.
Other notables include Chase Elliott (13th), Chris Buescher (14th), Denny Hamlin (16th), Joey Logano (22nd), and Austin Cindric (24th).
Katherine Legge, after an incredible effort to get into the Chicago Street Race last weekend, suffered mechanical issues with her Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet in practice and thus did not make a qualifying run.
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway will take place on Sunday, July 12 at 3:30 pm ET on TNT Sports, Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
